Ahead of the IPL 2024 season, all eyes are on the legendary MS Dhoni, who led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to a record-equalling fifth IPL title last year.
During the IPL 2023 campaign, Dhoni struggled right through the tournament with a knee injury and speculations were rife that it could well be his last season.
However, Dhoni vowed to return in 2024 fitness-permitting after lifting the coveted trophy. In fact, he underwent surgery to treat his troubling knee soon after the triumphant campaign and has made a good recovery so far.
With barely a couple of months remaining for the IPL 2024, CSK pacer Deepak Chahar has said that Dhoni has recovered well from his knee injury and can play in the Indian Premier League for 2-3 more years.
"I think he has a lot to give to cricket. He can play for another 2-3 seasons. I have seen him bat in the nets. Obviously, he had an injury that anyone can have, people at 24 have that same injury that he has," Chahar told news agency PTI.
"He has recovered well. For me personally, he should play for another 2-3 years. But it's his call. He told everyone he was going to play his last game in Chennai. I think he will only decide. For us, it will be very difficult to play for CSK without him. Everyone has (always) seen CSK with Mahi bhai," he added.
On a different note, Chahar also opened up on his equation with MS Dhoni, saying that it took him a while to connect with the skipper but he now sees the latter as his "elder brother".
"It took me 2-3 years to get comfortable around him Dhoni. I see him as an elder brother and I think he treats me as a younger brother," Chahar said.
"We have our fun moments. During lockdown, we played a lot of PUBG together. We played a lot of games together. We spent a lot of time together off the field. I've been lucky to learn so much from him. I would say because of him only I got a chance to play for India because, before that, he gave me a really big chance to play all 14 games in IPL. In 2018, I played all the 14 games."
Deepak Chahar, who skipped the tour of South Africa and the home series against Afghanistan due to personal reasons, will look to make a strong comeback in the upcoming IPL season and cement his place in the T20 World Cup 2024 squad.
